Here’s a universal truth: Losing weight is hard. Sometimes, it downright sucks. The commitment to simply “lose weight” for the summer season is so vague that we don’t know where to start, which is why a good challenge is the perfect motivational tool to help kick-start the process and see results. If you’re feeling stuck, try one (or all!) of these four challenges to finally slim down for summer.

Once upon a time, John was the captain of his high school cross country team. Now a qualifier in next year’s Boston Marathon, this 53-year-old never envisioned his passion for running would lead to this.